Floor and ceiling construction



Feb. 2, 1932. G. w. DENISON FLOOR AND CEILING CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet l in. 1 M M M M a .1 J u m n H i R 7 7 0 m I u n i v LT a Filed Nov. 10, 1927 4 2546mm fimm nw,

Feb. 2, 1932. G. w. DENISON FLOOR AND CEILING CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 10. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

- gwuawtoz UNETEE STATES PATENT OFFlCE GEORGE w. DENISON, or BAY VILLAGE, OHIO FLOOR AND CEILING CONSTRUCTION Application filed November 10, 1927. Serial No. 232,224.

This invention relates to floor construcassembling the structural units thereof; Fig. tions and more particularly to floor construc- 8 is a. perspective view similar to Fig. 3 and tions of the flat arch type, and has for its illustrating the manner of building said general object the provision of durable floor modified form of floor construction; Fig. 9 is structure formed of relatively light weight a perspective View of a modified form of tile metal joists and tile and concrete in such utilizable in the structure embodying my inmanner that a marked saving in material vention; and Fig. 10 is still another form of and labor costs can be effected. flat arch construction embodying another More particularly, my invention has for its form of my invention; and Fig. 11 shows the W object the provision of a floor structure cluster form of the tile when extended. which will involve the use of structuralunits My invention contemplates the provision of a very simple economical form; the nature of a floor construction of the flat arch type of the assembly of the units being such that for use primarily in dwellings and building substantially all of the material in the strucstructures of the smaller type, and I propose l1? ture is called upon to support the dead weight to use metallic joists of an'extremely light of the floor structure as well as the permis- Weight whereby they can be readily, manusible live load for which the floor i designed, ally positioned in the structure by the brickand the structural units are of such weight layer or tile setter. that the building mechanic may readily I also propose the use of a simple floor tile in assemble the structure without unusual exshape which may be cut in lengths corre- 79 ertion. sponding to predetermined spacing require- A further object of my invention is the ments of metallic joists which are light in provision of a light weight, durable floor concross section and the depth dimension of the struction which may be built into and comtile is dependent somewhat upon the predeprise a part of the load bearing wall which termined beam height of the joist; the height supports the floor structure. Other objects of the joist being preferably a multiple of of my invention will hereinafter become apstandard brick height dimensions plus parent from the following description remortar joints. The unitary weight of the ferred to in the accompanying drawings, iltile, also receives consideration so that the lustrating some preferred forms thereof. repeated exertion of the building mechanic S0 The essential characteristics thereof aresumin assembling the tile on the structure will marized in the claims. 1 not be such as to cause undue fatigue and I In Fig. 1, I show a fragmentary perspecincorporate such tile and metallic joists in a tive view of a flat arch floor construction floor structure in a manner that will utilize embodying one form of my invention; Fig. 2 to the fullest extent, the entire strength of the is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the condimaterials used in the floor structure within tion of the floor structure when partially practical limits. completed; in Fig. 3 I illustrate the manner In Fig. l I show my floor structure as comof extending the floor structure into a load prising spaced apart metallic joists 12. the bearing wall; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of cross section of which is illustrated in Fig. 5. one form of tile shape which may becuse'd in The joist is designed to be extremely light in the construction of my fiat arch floor strucweight but sufiicient to impart to the fiat arch ture; Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of one floor structure the required tensile strength, I w form of joist or beam which may be utilized and its physical strength characteristics when in my floor structure; Fig. 6 is a modified acting solely as a beam supported at its ends 9 form of floor construction embodying certain are such. that the usual factor of safety is confeatures of ornamentation to provide a pleassiderably reduced as compared to the usual ing ceiling effect; Fig. 7 is a perspective demetallic beam, in that the section lacks the tail of another form of my floor construction usual compression strength. These joists are illustrating the manner of constructing or provided at their lower ends with flanges 13 00 mechanic upon mortar bearing pads 16 placed of sufiicient width to impart the desired tensile strength to the beam span and to serve as dead weight bearings ;or supports for the ends of elongated tile blocks 15, which, as shown in Fig. 1, may be square in cross section. The tileare laid singly by the building upon the flanges 13 of the beams 12.by the tile setter or brick-layer, one bottom longitudinal edge of each tile as it is laid being pointed with mortar to provide theusual mortar oint with an adjacent tile. At the top of the beam, I provide a flange 18 to give a certain degree of rigidity to the beam so that it may be handled during shipping and construction or incorporation into the building without becoming unduly bent or twisted.

The tile'15', as shown, have plane end surfaces and are of a length to extend substantially from webs to webs of the joists 12 and may be laid,-as shown to the right of Fig 2, byinserting one end of the tile beneath the top flange l8of the joist and lowered into 7 place, and thereafter shifted into mortar joint relation to an adjacent tile. Thus, the tile are laid inthe' floor structure in spaced apartrelation adistance corresponding to the thickness of a mortar joint.

' The relation of the height of the web of the beam to the height of the tileis such as to providea substantial spacebetween the top surface of the flange 18ot the joists and the tiles 15, whereby the spaces between the'joist top flanges and the horizontaltop walls 15a of the tile may be filled with a layer of concrete or grouting'QO to'completely fill all of the intervening spaces between the ends of the tile blocks and the webs of the joist and also the space between thet'op surface of the tile and the topsurface of the flanges 18 whereby each course of tile extendingbetwecn the joists becomes a compression beam, the upper portions of the tile and the grouting being in compression under live load; By this arrange ment a smooth floor structure is also presented, which is even-with the top flange surfaces of 1 the joists; This construction is shown in Figs. land 2. I I

- In Fig. 3,1 show the manner in which such a simple floorconstructio'n maybe extended into and comprise a part of the load bearing wall structure 40 of the building,'and which carries or supports thefioor. The lengths of the joists 12-being such that the ends thereof extendinto the wall structure a substantial. distanc'e,'and if desired, adistance which will be substantially equal to multiples of a brick width. In the structure illustrated, the heightof the joists 12 are shown as being equal to twice the height of the standard brick plus the mortar joint when the oist ends are incorporated in the'wall structure, but it is to be understood that such joist height is not necessarily determined by' consideration of brick dimensions.-- The running courses of brick or tile in the load bearing wall are accordingly shown as extending evenly under I 'fianges 13 of the beam whereby spaces betweenthe flanges may be ornamented in any suitable manner with plaster 31, or if desired, the bottom faces of the'tile 15 may be treated during themanufacture in such manner as to eflect their ornamentation by causing the formation of variegated configurations or colors thereon. Thus, the tile faces may remain exposed; that is, without plaster covering, or if desired, they may be painted.

I In Fig. 7, I show a modified form of joist construction, the joists being of-the same practical dimension as the joist construction shown in Fig; 5, butin. lieu of the flange 18, as shown in that figure, I provide a rounded upper end 34 for the purpose" of imparting to the joists the characteristic of substantial rigidity during shippingand handling. I also show in this particularconstruction a modifiedform ofcross section forthe tile. Thetile, as shown in. perspective in Fig. 10, having one sloping side wall 1501 which may be pointed with mortar to contactwiththe vertical side wall 156 of adjacent tile when set into floor structures. The tile are shown in Fig. 8 as being set with the slopingwalls 15a thereof extend: ing in a common direction to about'oneehalf ofthe extent of the course, and they are laid in reverse order. The tile 1n this construction are laidon mortar bearing pads in the manner described, and wherein the upper surface of the floor structure is formed by filling the various spaces with concrete or grouting of the proper consistency, theupper halfjof the courses of tile are in compression relation when'the floor is loaded, dueto' the key arrangementof the wedge-shaped portions 48 of the filling and the central key portion 49 thereof. In Fig.8 I show'that this modified form of floor construction can be built into or incorporated into the load bearing wall 40 in the same manner as I have illustrated in Fig. 3 in setting forth the description of my floor construction in Fig. 1.

'ln Fig. 9, I show still another for'mof flat arch construction wherein single void tile are utilized and which have parallel sloping side wa-lls42, there -being straight or vertically extending surfaces 43 provided thereon, whereby when the tile are laid side by side in spaced relation, a wedge or key spacee l is provided, which whenfilled with concrete or grout Wlll impart compression strength to the floor. In this form of construction, the tile are set with the side Walls sloping in a common direction to substantially half of the joist len th, and the central wedge-shaped void filled with concrete or the spacing of the tile at thereversing point may be such that al-zey block or tile i5 is inserted in the structure and then the blocks are laid in reverse position, that is with their side Walls sloping in an opposite direction; In Fig. 11 I show tile cluster cross section whereby the tile shown in Fig. 10, may be extruded in duplicate and handled throughout the various stages of its manufacture and separated into units after burning.

These constructions, when incorporated in a building in the manner described, afford a very rigid floor, which when completed will have a dead load plus a live load strength in excess of the figured or calculated dead load compression strength plus live load compression strength of the joist, this being due to the fact that the tile when subjected to live load plus their Weight load, are in compression along the upper portions of their side walls and part of the load reaction thus extends longitudinally of the joist to the load bearing walls 40.

It will be noted that all of the tile disclosed are of such shape as to involve only the simplest steps of manufacture in the ceramic industry and are of such length as to not encumber the mechanics skill in laying them in position on the joist. The joists are of such weight that they may be readily handled manually and placed in position in the building structure without requiring the use of cumbersome hoists and machinery, and the completed floor structure involves the use of no more material for finishing the ceiling surfaces and floor surfaces than the materials essential to the actual floor construction for the concrete or grouting serves primarily to join the courses of tile in such manner that the compression stresses extend along these courses longitudinally of the joists parallel with the upper longitudinally extending portions of the joists, which portions lack the physical characteristics which would permit them to absorb the compression stresses and the tension stresses which the tile courses cannot absorb are taken by the lower flanged portions of the joists. Also by having the tile height dimensions confined to the limitation of the joist height, that is, the height of the tile being less than the height of t 1e joists and the height of the joists being dimensionally determined to conform to standard height dimensions of building units such as brick and mortar joints or load bearing wall tile, the floor structure can be readily embodied in the building and comprise part of the load bearing Walls without necessitating any calculating of tile or brick setting unusual to standard practice.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description of the embodiments of my invention that a metallic joist can be used which is of an economical weight; that is, a considerable saving is efiected by the use of light weight joists, which use is feasible due to the fact that the tile are arranged in rows side by side, whereby the maximum benefit of their strength is utilized in a flat arch floor construction. The tile are extremely simple in cross-sectional form, thus insuring uniformity in their physical characteristics in the manufacture thereof, and by reason of the simple arrangement of joists and tile in the manner disclosed, the floor structure may be rapidly assembled by the mechanic without necessitating any unusual care, and the structure when completed has substantially flat upper and under surfaces which are not objectionable in dwellings and buildings of the type for which the structure is proposed, and the floor structure is quite durable and unitary due to the overlying grouting of concrete surfacing.

It is to be, understood that where I have herein referred to the use of a metallic joist so light in cross section that it has not suiiicient inherent strengt to carry the dead load of the floor structure plus the live load, I mean that if it were not for the absorbing of a considerable part of the live load longitudinally along the single courses of tile to the side walls of the building structure, that the joists would deflect excessively.

I claim:

1. A floor construction comprising floor joists formed of metal to have opposed bot tom flanges and a top flange connected by a beam web and single courses of hollow tile substantially square in cross-section laid with their side walls in juxtaposition to fill the spaces between the joists, the single courses of tile being laid to bear upon said flanges of the joists and held in place at one end only by said top flange whereby said tile may be inserted in position on the lower flanges w1thout necessitating lateral movement of the tile.

2. A fireproof floor construction comprising floor joists formed of metal to correspond in cross-section to an I beam with one top flange portion omitted, and single courses of hollow tile laid with their side walls in juxtaposition to fill the spaces between the joists, said hollow tile being substantially square in cross-section and laid to bear upon said flan ges of the oists, and of a height to be held in place by the single top flange of the joist.

3. In a floor construction of the character described, the combination of spaced apart floor oists comprising metal beams formed to have opposed flanges at the bottoms thereof, the under face or surface of the flanges being irregular and a single formed flange at the top thereof, the joists being paced apart in conformity with standard practice, and the spaces between thejoists being filledwith horizontal courses. of tile of less height than the joists and, each tile beingv laid to extend substantially from web to web of the joists, and to bear upon bottom flanges in adjacent joists at the ends thereof, whereby the under surfaces of the joists will remain exposed and comprise part of a ceiling surface. Y

4. A fire-proof floor constructioncomprise 111g floor oists formed of metal and having opposed flanges at the bottoms thereof, said joists being of a height corresponding to one ormore standard height load bearing wall tile or standard brick plus necessary mortar joints, single conrsesof tile laid with their side wallsin juxtaposition to fill the spaces between said joists, a layer of concrete filling the spaces between "the top surfaces of the tile and the tops of the joists and the inci- 'dentaljoints between the ends of the tile and the sides of the joists, said joists, tile and concrete extending into and comprising a part of the load bearing wall.

5. A fire proof floor construction, comprising metal floor joists having opposed bottom flanges, a top flange connected by a beam web, said joists extending into the load bearing wall at spaced intervals, hollow tile laid between the joists, and a grouting fillingthe spaces between the layers of tile and the spaces between the tile and top of the joists, the bottom flanges of said joists being of a weight sufficient to take all of the tension of both the dead and live load, the top flange being of a weight sufficient to take the compression of the tile and grouting only while it is setting.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my I GEORGE mnnson,

signature. 

